It has been estimated that as much as two-thirds of deceased soldiers in the US Civile War were killed not by bullets but by disease, with the most prevalent of those diseases being the intestinal illnesses diarrhea and dysentery. It was not clear, based on the established medical knowledge, exactly what caused these illnesses to flourish in military camps, but one physician by the name of James H. Salisbury suspected diet was the greatest culprit, and came up with his own solution.
The history of cotton clothing has followed an interesting path, including a period of a few decades in the United States when cotton represented ingenuity, resilience, and patriotism itself.